Analysis of the Application of Eliade’s Mythical View in Safvat al-Safa by Ibn-e Bazaz Ardabili
Ramin Moharrami, Soraiya Karimi Younjali
ادبیات عرفانی July 24, 2021 DOI: 10.22051/jml.2019.23777.1672 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Myth Safvat al-safa Eliade |
| Key points | Argues that the mystical experiences of Sheikh Safi al-din Ardabili in "Safvat al-Safa" conform to Mircea Eliade's mythical model, including archetypal hero patterns, mythical time and space, religious experience, initiation, and spiritual ascension. |
Abstract
Applying descriptive-analytical research method, the present study critiques and analyzes Ibn-e Bazaz Ardabili’sSafvat al-Safa based on the mythical view of Mircea Eliade. From the perspective of Eliade, myth is the most important from of real, sacred, and communal thinking and for this reason it is exemplary and repeatable. In myth, the hero achieves trans-human conditions by transforming the sensory experience into religious experience. The religiousness of this experience means that the individual’s existence in the profane world is halted, and he enters a world of light through supernatural forces. As a result, through applying religious experience, he can replicate mythical events. According to the mythical model of Eliade, the mythical sanctity of Sheikh Safi, Safvat al-Safa’s hero, resembles the gods’ archetype and primordial models. The examples and components of mythical times and places of Mircea Eliade are also evident in Safvat al-Safa. As Sheikh Safi uses a religious experience, he replicates the mythical events, and conforming to religious man’s example, he achieves a sense of religious power through austerity. Through this, he reaches illumination and inner self-recognition and his heart gets ready to accept the facts. At the stage of acquiring secret knowledge and being honored with initiation (tasharuf), the hard tests, and the compact and confined places for learning mystical mysticism are somehow representative of the embryonic world and rebirth. The hero reaches the divine manifestation (tajalli) through the stages of mystery-learning and initiation, and by his spiritual flight or ascension meets the angels face to face. Several examples of mythical models and repetitions are observed in the mystical experience of Sheikh Safi al-din Ardabili in Safvat al-Safa.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |